Collapsible wardrobe



1951 l. BLECHMAN COLLAPSIBLE WARDROBE 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 Filed March 5, 1946 BYZKL MW I. BLECHMAN COLLAPSIBLE WARDROBE Dec. 25, 1951 Filed March 5, 1946 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 INVENTOR.

' III/071111115 Patented Dec. 25, 1951 UNITED STATES/PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

The present invention relates to collapsible wardrobes and closets employing corrugated paper board walls, or walls of the type permit- .ting ready penetration by fastening members intermediate end wall or door elements. Such wardrobes and closets are shipped in collapsed and fiat form for assembly by the householder.

In one formof the said collapsible wardrobes and closets a front door carrying frame, generally of wood, is employed. This frame is usually applied by the householder after the wall and top and bottom assembly has been erected, and the elements secured together by prong fasteners or other means. A problem which arises lies in the provision of simple and effective means for securing the wooden frame to the side and end walls. The method generally employed is to perforate the frame at spaced points for the passage therethrough and into the paper board walls of metallic fastening members, such as prong fasteners, although other elements have been employed. For example, a back area of the top horizontal frame member has been channelled for reception and abutment of the front area of the upper end closure of the closet, requiring the householder to drive nails through said front area of the top end closure and into the wood of the upper horizontal frame member. Thus the connection of the front frame member has required operations by the householder which are somewhat difficult for unskilled persons, particularly women, and the arrangement has not been very satisfactory from that standpoint.

It is the specific object of the present invention to enable the locking of the frame member to the side and end walls of the closet merely by inserting the exposed marginal ends of the walls into channels formed in the frame members, whereupon metallic holding elements will either automatically grip the walls, these elements being carried by the frame, or whereby penetration ends of the metallic gripping members may conveniently be reached from the front of the frame, the doors being opened, and then pressed into the penetrable walls for secure holding of the frame and wall assembly. In this connection, by walls I include the end closures of the closet.

The invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing assembled side and top and bottom closures, constituting the body member of a collapsible closet;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a suitable frame member, carrying doors;

' Figure '3 is a schematic isometric view showing a section of the assembled closet walls, and a frame section ready to receive the walls, the frame section carrying metallic wall gripping members, which members are enlarged for clarity of illustration;

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 with the elements assembled;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary section taken horizontally on the line 5-5, Figure 4;

Figure 6 is an isometric view of a gripping member embodiment.

Referring to the drawings, I have shown in Figure 1 a body assembly consisting of side walls 1, top end closure 3 and the bottom end closure 4. In the embodiment shown, flanges 5 are formed on the end members and these flanges fit within the walls I, 2. Also, the ends of the wall members I, 2, carry reinforcing bars 6 and directly receive fastening elements which are carried through the flanges 5, which fastening elements are not shown. This is but one way of securing the end walls to the vertical members of the composite body, and preferably I employ the arrangement subject of my application filed January 8, 1946, .Serial No. 639,802, new abandoned.

In Figure 2 I have shown a suitable door-holding frame. It consists of a rectangular member I usually formed of wood bars. In the embodiment shown it carries two doors separated by a parting bar It] which is a part of the frame. Each door has a rectangular frame I l surrounding a panel l2.

As shown more particularly in Figures 3 and 4, the door frame I is, at its inner face, provided with a continuous channel, indicated at 8 for reception of the marginal edges of the body walls I and the end walls 3 and 4.

Received within the channel 8 are a plurality of gripping members, preferably of spring metal. In the present embodiment each gripping member is formed of a metallic strip having a straight section 9 which abuts the outer side of the frame 7, the strip then being angularly bent at 9:0 to lie against the inner face of frame I, the strip then being formed with a U-bend 9m: to enter the channel 8, the outer end of section 9m: being formed with a penetration prong. Also in the present embodiment, for convenient manipulation of the gripping member, the exposed end thereof is formed with a bent finger piece.

Ordinarily it will be sufiicient to employ not more than four of the gripping members, say two at each vertical member of the door frame I, and in fact one for each member may be sumcient. The preferred method of assembly is to place the gripping member in register with its appropriate wall edge and then press it into position, followed by a movement to cause the prong to penetrate the wall, as shown in Figure 5. Thereupon, the frame may be pressed into the position of that figure, the finger piece end, of the gripping member being flexed outwardly during such movement. This is a simple operation.

In all of the figures of the drawings the spring gripping members have been enlarged for clarity of illustration. They are applied to the frame I by bringing the U-shaped portion 9mm into register with the channel 8 of the frame and by then pressing the device inwardly so that section 9 will be sprung out until its finger piece section I is sprung over to the position shown in Figure 5.

While in the drawings I have shown the penetration portion of the spring gripping member as lying at substantially right angles to the-legs of the U-shaped portion Sxw, said penetration end may lie at an angle directed inwardly of the device for greater ease in the insertion of the body member edges into the channel 8. Also, it is not essential, that the gripping members each be formed with a finger piece ,f. In fact, the entire section 9 may be eliminated, and then the section 9a: may be directly secured as by a stud or screw to the inner face of the frame I, as will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art.

Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is as follows:

I claim:

An assembled panel structure comprising a first panel composed of impressionable material and having a longitudinal edge, a second panel extending in a plane parallel to said edge and transverse to the plane of said first panel, said second panel having a longitudinal groove therein and said edge projecting into said groove, and a fastening member for securing said panels in assembled relation, said fastening member comprising a prong-like penetrating section embedded within one surface of said first panel at a point spaced inwardly from said edge, a straight section integral with said penetrating section and extending outwardly therefrom along said one surface and toward said edge, a U-shaped section integral with said straight section and extending outwardly therefrom into said groove and around said edge and then inwardly along the other surface of said first panel in a direction away from said edge, a lateral section integral with the inwardly-extending portion of said U-shaped section and extending laterally therefrom in a direction approximately transverseto said first panel and in contact with the respectiveadiacent surface of said second panel, the. latterzhaving an edg e,,a forwardly-extending section integralfwith saidlatera1 section and abuttingsaid last-recited edge, a finger section integral with said forwardly-extending section and extending laterally therefrom in contact with the other surface of said second panel, the end of said finger section having a forwardly-bent portion adapted to be contacted by a finger, and said fastening member being composed of resilient material so as to be yieldable.

IRVING BLECHMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number I Name Date 355,538 Keyes Jan. 4, 1887 974,380 Hoagland Nov. 1, 1910 1,097,450 Leiman May 19, 1914 2,126,135 Palley Aug. 9, 1938 2,153,122 Powell Apr. 4, 1939 2,328,977 Hasenburger Sept. 7, 1943 2,332,855 Jones Oct. 26, 1943 2,335,302 Olsen Nov. 30, 1943 2,351,525 Leary June 13, 1944 2,391,614 Blechman Dec. 25, 1945 

